


"I'll help you figure it out"

by dreamer_of_stories



Category: King Falls AM (Podcast)
Genre: Alcohol, Author Is Sleep Deprived, Internalized Homophobia, Kissing, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-16
Updated: 2018-04-16
Packaged: 2019-04-13 16:13:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,752
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14116080
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dreamer_of_stories/pseuds/dreamer_of_stories
Summary: Sammy Stevens had a long day, hell, a long week even. He just wants to enjoy a drink, when some handsome guy from California decides to interfere and change his life for the better.





	"I'll help you figure it out"

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [It Will But Grow](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14083005) by [flashforeward](https://archiveofourown.org/users/flashforeward/pseuds/flashforeward). 



> Even though this shortstory is inspired by the first chaper of flashforeward's fanfic, it can be read on its own. Enjoy!

Sammy Stevens had had a long day at the radio station today. He was tired, he was annoyed, and he was trying to enjoy his drink, undisturbed. It was, however, not what the man who just sat down next to him, wanted.

  
“Hey there, pretty man”, he said. Sammy didn’t look over. He was not in the mood for this.

  
“I’m not gay”, he said, still staring straight ahead.

  
“Of course not”, the voice answered. “Hey, uh, could I have what he’s having? Scotch? Whiskey? What is that anyways?” The barkeeper shot him a quick look, shouted a “sure”, and immediately turned back around as soon as she looked away, looking at the man again, smiling. She served him first, even though a young woman was waiting for her drink, and she still smiled when she did. On the cardboard coaster was a number, followed by a winking smiley.

  
Curious, Sammy looked over while taking another sip of whiskey, and nearly choked on the tiniest amount of liquid.

  
_Fuck,_ he thought. _He’s gorgeous._

  
“So, I noticed you’re here often.”, the beautiful stranger said. It wasn’t a question, but he still expected an answer.

  
“Only when I don’t want to be bothered”, Sammy answered, but his voice was less harsh and unwelcoming than he would have liked it to be.

  
“My name’s Jack”, the man said and took a sip of his iced drink. “You have good taste.”

  
“Sammy”, Sammy murmured and put a few bucks on the counter. He emptied his glass and swirled the alcohol around in his mouth. It had a smoky taste, but it also faintly reminded him of fruit. It wasn’t the best whiskey he’s had, but it was good enough for after a long day and an even longer week. He certainly had better scotch at his place, but he wanted to preserve that one for a better occasion than ‘feeling exhausted because the co-workers are annoying’.

  
He couldn’t resist looking at Jack again when he left. He couldn’t help noticing the cheeky smile, the one raised eyebrow. Only after he stepped out the door and felt the rain on his shoulders he realised he had left his jacket, like a fucking idiot. Nevermind. He’d go and get it another day. He couldn’t go in there again after that.

 

He didn’t need to. He was only outside for a minute when a man shouted his name and ran up to him. Sammy didn’t need to look to see who it was.

  
Jack handed him his jacket and stood closer to him, so his umbrella would cover both of them. Sammy resisted the urge to step back. He noticed that Jack was shivering, that his hair was tousled and a bit wet, that rain was on his glasses.

  
“You’re not from here, are you?”, Sammy asked, but he didn’t mean it as a question. He did not expect an answer.

  
“No, I’m from California.”, Jack said. “How’d you know?”

  
Sammy pointed at the umbrella. “Nobody here carries one of those.” He started walking. To his disappointment, but not to his surprise, Jack followed him, umbrella over both their heads.

  
“Well, you should! With that weather”, Jack remarked. He was still shivering. Sammy handed him his jacket. It wasn’t even that cold.

  
“Here”, he said.

  
Jack smiled, thanked him, and put it on. He had a charming smile.

 

They walked together, and Jack told him that he was the producer of a radio show called Wright on starring his sister, Lily, and that they were in town for one of their episodes. He explained what they did, the topics they had covered in their show, and how his sister was a nice but incredibly bossy woman. He was definitely the kind of man who had no problem telling a random stranger his whole life story, but Sammy didn’t mind. He liked listening to him. He had the sort of voice that felt like honey and pines; sweet, deep but with a rough undertone. The sort of voice that should be on the radio.

  
Before he even decided, hell, before he even thought about taking Jack to his home, they arrived at the front door of his apartment. It had felt so natural, talking to this handsome stranger, or, rather, listening to him talk. Sammy talked enough during his job anyways.

  
Jack took off Sammy’s jacket and handed it back, but Sammy didn’t want him to leave yet. He invited him in, asking himself why he did that even while he did it. He was not usually the type to take people home with him. In fact, Jack was the first one who was at his place in a long time.

  
Just a few minutes later, Jack was sitting at Sammy’s barely used dinner table, talking about anything and everything, and this time, Sammy didn’t just listen. He found out that he liked talking to Jack, too.

 

Minutes turned into hours. Jack’s phone buzzed several times, but he just glanced at it, put it on silent and slid it into his pocket. They had moved from the dinner table to the sofa and Sammy decided that Jack needed to be educated on what ‘good taste’ in terms of whiskey meant.

  
“Fuck, this one’s really good”, Jack said.

  
“Well, I did tell you so.”

  
“To be honest, I know nothing about whiskey. I’m more of a wine-person.”, Jack admitted and took another sip. “But this is definitely good shit.” Sammy smiled at the stunning man on his couch.

  
By the time it turned dark outside, both of them were a bit tipsy. Jack was leaning his head against Sammy’s shoulder and Sammy, even though he wouldn’t say it out loud, enjoyed it. For a few minutes they sat there, silently, but still communicating in their silence. Sammy softly stroked Jack’s arm.

  
“So, you’re not gay, huh?”, Jack asked and looked up at him, glasses slightly askew, grey eyes glancing through ginger blonde hair.

  
Sammy didn’t answer. Maybe because he never said it out loud. Probably because no answer was needed. He simply closed his eyes for a moment and breathed out, heart racing but thoughts slow.

  
For another heartbeat, he looked into Jack’s eyes, felt his breath on his own face, and then their lips met.

  
Jack kissed carefully, slowly. On his tongue was the lingering taste of whiskey, and to Sammy it tasted like comfort, like safety, like something he should have done a long time ago but never did because he was too afraid of the possible consequences. He got lost in the kiss and all that existed were the lips on his, the hands in his hair, the glasses bumping against his face.

  
Sammy didn’t know how long they were kissing each other, but he knew that it wasn’t long enough. Jack smiled at him, hands still in entangled in his hair, face slightly blushing.

  
“I am so glad you forgot your jacket”, he whispered. “You are beautiful.” Not able to think of an answer, Sammy leaned forward and kissed him again. Jack pulled him closed and deepened the kiss. It felt amazing.

  
“Is this okay?”, Jack asked, breaking the kiss for just a moment, when he started unbuttoning his shirt.

  
Sammy didn’t know if it was okay. He wanted this, but he was also really, really scared. He’d rather just kiss some more, but then he thought about how it would feel to have Jack’s skin pressing against his skin, and how he had wanted this since he was a teenager, and he slid his own hands under Jack’s shirt, pulling it off in a single movement.

  
At one point, when the couch became too uncomfortably small, they moved to the bed. They stopped kissing every now and then, just to look into each other’s eyes or to whisper a compliment. Jack’s hands traced Sammy’s collarbones, his ribs, his spine, and eventually rested on his hips. Instinctively, they moved closer, pressed their body against each other. Sammy knew it should feel wrong, but it didn’t.

  
“Do you wanna go on?”, Jack asked, softly.

  
“I have never done this before.”, Sammy said, and he meant ‘I’m scared.’

  
“It’s okay, we don’t have to”, Jack said and kissed him again, gently, passionately.

  
They spent a long time kissing each other that night, but they didn’t go further. It was okay that way.

 

When Sammy woke up the next morning, Jack was already awake. He laid there, next to him, stroking his hair. Sammy blushed furiously, flinching when he remembered.

  
“I’m sorry, that was the whiskey, I’m-“, he started, but they both knew he was lying. He didn’t have remotely enough to drink last night to use that excuse. Sammy wasn’t a drinker.

  
“Not gay?”, Jack asked, raising his eyebrow. “Of course not.” He continued stroking his hair.

  
Sammy leaned into the touch. “Who am I kidding.” He closed his eyes, ashamed of himself. If his father could see him right now-

  
“It’s okay.”, Jack said, gently kissing his forehead. “I’ll help you figure it out.”

  
For a few more minutes, they laid there, in each other’s arms, deep in thoughts. Then, Sammy stood up and made breakfast.

  
He wasn’t in the mood for conversation. There was too much going on in his head at the moment. He thought about the girlfriend he had when he was a teenager, just to convince himself that he wasn’t gay. He thought about how his father beat him when he found out he had kissed another boy at school. Even years after the bruises had faded, he couldn’t forget how it hurt, but he couldn’t tell if the pain was from the punch or from the yelled ‘faggot’. Sometimes, the word was still ringing in his ears.

  
Jack sensed that Sammy needed time to think and left him alone. He scribbled his phone number on a piece of paper he ripped off the edge of the newspaper.

  
“Am I gonna see you again?”, Sammy asked when he was about to leave. Jack stepped closer to him, standing on his toes to kiss him again.

  
“I told you I’d help you figure it out.”, he said, and Sammy understood it was a promise. It wasn’t a promise to Jack. To him, it was a certainty.

  
He brushed a stray strand of hair out of his face. “I love your hair.”, he said. “I bet you’d look great with it grown out.”

  
And then he left.

 

He would, indeed, help Sammy Stevens figure it out.

**Author's Note:**

> This is honestly just a short thing I did in a sleepless night, but I hope you enjoyed it nonetheless! This is finished for now, but I might add another chapter, depending on if I am inspired enough to write it and sleepless enough to not be too perfectionistic about it.
> 
> Anyways, it is 4 o'clock in the morning over here, I hope you have a nice time in whatever timezone you are in!
> 
> See you around!


End file.
